The Terrorist's brother
by Mental Incapacity
Summary: Edward Elric, notorious criminal, though no one can prove it or try him for it, has a little brother starting at Hogwarts. Disclaimer, I don't own hp or fma. au: double jeapordy exists, Ed's a terrorist, the Malfoys are broke. No Pairings
1. Sorted

"Elric, Alphonse" McGonagall announced.

" _Elric? Like Edward Elric?_ "

" _Isn't he the brother of the terrorist!?_ "

" _The only person to ever successfully break into Gringotts?_ "

" _Didn't he steal the Malfoy fortune?_ "

McGonagall looked rather shaken, her skin was pale and she looked at the young, fair skinned boy as he stepped up to the stool, sat down and put on the sorting hat.

One word filled the hall.

' **SLYTHERIN**!'

In Stark contrast to the behavior of the other tables, indeed that same table not three minutes earlier there was only silence as everyone in the hall looked at Draco Malfoy slouching in his seat looking unpleasent in his threadbare, clearly secondhand robes.

Alphonse Elric, sensing this, sat at the very end of the table.

He couldn't wait to send a letter home.

 **this is something I'm trying out so review por favor.**


	2. An ugly inn

One thing Edward and Alphonse found out was that time moved faster on this side of the gate than Amestris's side.

It had been 45 years and Edward appeared to have only aged five of them.

Alphonse still only looked eleven.

"Gate anomoly?" Alphonse had brushed it off. Ed maintained the hypothesis that because his body was still on the other side of the gate he couldn't age in this one but ultimately he had no idea.

Every year since they had arrived there Alphonse had received the same letter sent by the same means:

Owl.

It had taken about a week before they realized they had to open the letter for them to stop coming.

The first ten years was spent orienting themselves with the world around them.

Edward had a good understanding of Germany.

Or so he'd thought:

"What on Earth is a euro?"

"I'll give fifty centz to the person who can explain the difference between a Chancellor and a Fuhrer!"

"Brother they don't use the centz here"

The next thirty years were spent in Brittain.

It was only by chance that they found the ugly old tavern.

Chance that is, and a never ending hunger that had gotten them kicked out of the last buffet in Brittain.

They walked into the establishment named, strangely enough "The Leaky Cauldron".

After surveiling the pub Edward and Alphonse sat at the bar.

POV SWITCH

Tom watched wearily as the two young men entered his tavern.

He had owned and operated the gateway between magical and muggle London for years despite he being unable to do magic He would continue to do so until deemed incapable and replaced.

He had always been a good judge of people so it wasn't hard telling these young men were hiding something.

First of all was the way the older one (by at least three or four years) had looked over the tavern before entering. Sure it could be brushed off as getting his bearings but Tom Iknew better.

Second, the way they walked.

The younger one walked more casually, short strides, but still purposeful.

The older one was hiding it well but he still walked with the pride of a Malfoy or other Pureblood.

And then there was the weariness in the eyes of not just the older one, but a boldness as well which helped Tom understand immediately that he shouldn't to interfere with them.

They made their way up to the bar and Tom said his usual spiel;

"Room for the night is forty galleons and dinner and breakfast are included, any extra amenities can be discussed or negotiated."

 **yo thanks for the reviews to everyone except that one conservative chick.** **i put a crap ton of work into this i think zo enjoy.** **12/17**


	3. A meeting

HAPPY HOLIDAYS.

Alphonse Elric's first night in Slytherin house went as well as one who's brother had financially crippled one of his little brothers classmates could go.

Not well.

Not only had he been shunned by most of the first years he was also quickly and clearly labeled undesirable number one and left in a corner with his papers.

Suddenly the faint light from a half melted candle -which he was using to write the letter to his older brother- went out.

Alphonse tried to light it again but it only went out.

He looked around to find what was snuffing his only light source ij the griky cormer which he was forced to sit in and he saw a tall translucent man holding a large and silver set of chains.

Alphonse had been prepared for the ghosts so he didn't startle, but he was still a bit shocked that one had approached him.

"Hello mister Baron, sir." He greeted politely, trying to stay on the good side of the ghost who resided in the tower he'd live in for the next several years.

"Elric, professor Snape wants to see you in his office. Now."

"Would you mind showing me where his office is?"

"As you wish."

"Thank you mister Baron."

The walk to Professor Snape's office had been short and quiet.

When they arrived the Baron turned and left with no goodbye but Alphonse didn't mind.

With only the sound of his knocking filling the small alcove that lead to Snape's office, he waited for something welcoming his entrance.

"Enter, Elric." The cool voice announced.

As he entered the cold, unnatractive room, another person brushed past him.

It was none other than Draco Malfoy!

Alphonse didn't stop, he just kept walking past the boy who owed his destitute state solely to Alphonse's brother.

Seeing Draco leaving lead Alphonse to some conclusions as to what exactly Snape wanted to talk about.

The room was Bare of any personal affects, photographs, albums. There was a door on the right wall with an old brass doorknob and a lock on the outside.

There was a lab area in the back and several jars filled with an seki transparent liquid in which there were different animals, body parts, and other strange objects. The room also had a booksuelf on the left wall which had very few actually books but the ones it did have didn't look like the ones a student might find in their local library.

Alphonse sat in a worn wooden chair that had a green cushion in the seat.

"What was it you wanted to talk about Professor Snape?'' Alphonse asked inquisitively.

Snape stood and walked around his desk and the student sitting in the chair, closing the door before making his way to the shelf.

"Mister…Elric… I assume you know why you are here." Professor Snape enunciated every word as though to make sure Alphonse got all of it.

"I haven't a clue professor. I was writing a letter to my brother and the baron told me that yiu wanted somethong." Snape tensed at the mention of the infamous Edward Elric.

"It seems that... Do to your ah... Relation to... Edward Elric... Some Students feel that ahm... They'd rather you not be er... Roomed with them..."

Alphonse felt his stomach drop.

He was being seperated. Affectively ostracised not just by the student body but also by his own head of house.

"So what you're telling me is that because of the alleged criminal activity of my brother I am being put in different rooms?"

"You're also being given a different schedule. You'll be attending classes with the ravenclaws and hufflepuffs. That will be all. Please leave."

"But sir, i don't know where I'll be staying!"

"You're room is in the fifth floor corridor ninth door on the left. All of your things have been moved there as well." Snape said with finality. "Now please I have work to do. If you don't leave soon I'll remove points for being up after curfew." Snape handed the boy his schedule and led him from his office.

 **POV SWITCH**

Severus Snape had often found himself more fascinated by the social aspect of being part of Voldemorts inner circle than some of the actual activities this job required.

As an ex Deatheater professor Snape had been quickly sought out by the children of other ex deatheaters over the issue of young Alphonse Elric.

Of course Snape knew it was exclusionary to put him in his own quarters and give him a separate class schedule but he still had a soft spot for Draco Malfoy and ever since his family had had their fortune taken from them he felt like he owed them something.

 **POV SWITCH**

Edward Elric, having received a letter from his younger brother which detailed what had taken place wasn't a upset.

Saying he was a upset was a gross under exaggeration.

He wasn't pissed.

He wasn't angry.

He wasn't mad.

Edward Elric, upon receiving the details of the meeting between his brother and Severus Snape, was the avatar of the wrath of god himself.

Edward made arrangements to get to Kings Cross station that very night.

During the ninety minutes during which he was driven to the station he was seething.

During the forty five minute wait for the train to arrive he was furious.

During the seven hour train ride, most of which he used to plan just how exactly he would prepare the potions master before eating him, he was feeling downright genocidal.

When he finally arrived at Hogsmeade he found the ugliest, most run down tavern and stomped his way in.

"Welcome to the hogs head." The tall bearded old man standing behind the bar said not too hospitably.

"I need a ride to the school." Edward, no nonsense mode Elric ordered.

"We don't do rides, would you like me to call someone?"

"No thanks I'll walk." Edward said walking out of the bar.

Aberforth Dumbledore looked rather perturbed before sitting down to read his newspaper and- "HOLY SHIT THAT WAS EDWARD ELRIC OH MY GOD"

It was quite the sight to see the man who ran the only seedy establishment in Hogsmeade Sprint down the street after a boy whom he was at least three heads taller than.

"WAIT! SLOW DOWN!" He yelled after the more than infamous young man.

Edward turned to see the bartender from the hogs head running after him and, assuming he was being chased, ran like a bat out of hell.

This prompted the old man to run faster catching up to Edward in a matter of seconds.

"I said we don't do rides but I'd be willing to make an exception free of charge if you don't break into my house and steal all my money!" The muscular old wizard looked genuinely terrified of this young man who appeared to be no older than twenty.

Edward beamed up at him and said "you've got deal old man," and, holding out his left hand introduced himself "Edward Elric"

The old bartender looked at the man, then his hand, then the man again before Apprehensively shaking the gloved hand.

"Aberforth."

The bartender left the young man by a house before heading back to his bar grabbing his thestral pulled carriage and leading it to the blond.

"Hop in, I'll drive."

And so they went along in silence until they reached the gates of Hogwarts.

"Thanks pops. I'll take it from here."

 **howdy yall. this couldve been better bit considering i** **wrote most of it around six a.m. after getting approxamately five and a half hourse of sleep I think I did alright.** **So the reason the first chapter is only like eighty word is because the last time i had a long ass story published it had like eighteen chapters and like twelve reviews.** **course i reckon there's more of a market for fma hp fics.**

 **12/21 (palindrome)**


	4. An introduction

Al had absolutely no idea what a galleon was.

However, from the context clues Al deduced that the galleon was a currency.

Which lead to a separate but related debacle.

He'd never heard of a galleon.

Edward seemed to have drawn a similar conclusion.

"We were actually looking to get some dinner. I don't really know the exchange rates but would you take uk money?" He seemed rather embarrassed.

 **POV SWITCH**

Tom decided to reevaluate his original opinions on the young man in front of him. He'd never had a Pureblood try and pay him in muggle currency, however thinking back on his earlier resolution to not interfere with these enigmatic young men, he decided not to press it.

"Tonight we're serving beef stew, I've got firewisky or butterbeer whichever you'd prefer." He didn't know the young man's age but he looked at least seventeen if only by a few months.

"that sounds great" Ed responded, receiving his change in knuts.

He and Al took a seat at one of the tables and waited for their food…

Which floated out of the kitchen and landed on the table they were sitting at splashing some of brown broth onto the tabletop.

Ed was dumbfounded by what he had seen.

When the bowls landed he lifted the one closest to him and looked at the bottom.

No circle, and even if there was a circle he was pretty sure alchemy couldn't do that.

As he was puzzling over what he had just witnessed two glasses, one a golden brown, the other black-red, the darker one in front of Ed, the lighter went to alphonse, also floated to the table, splashing fluods onto the already grimy table. The one Ed had gotten singed the table while the one Al had gotten simply slid off.

Edward was suspicious by nature so first he took a sniff of the fluid, and finding it relatively poison free, took a huge gulp…

And immediately almost threw up but he forced it down and belched, and a stream of fire erupted from his mouth.

A laugh came from behind them and Edward turned to see an old man in half moon glasses.

"something funny old man?" Edward asked still recovering from the explosion that originated from his mouth.

"Nothing my boy, I just tjought it was funny to see someone try their first firewhisky. That is all." The old man smiled wiping a tear from his eye and stepping forward while holding out his hand and saying "My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and I am headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizardry. it is nice to make your acquaintance,".

Edward held out his hand, not trusting himself to speak or the old man sitting in front of him.

"Edward Elric. look it was nice to meet you but we really must get going." Edward grabbed Al's hand and pulled him up from his seat and rushed out of the bar.

"Not to worry Mister Elric" 'i'm sure we'll see each other again soon'.

 **ooh! ominous right? so i hope y'all like it then.** **happy boxing day if y'all do that.** **i got a speaker so I'm jamming out.** **gotta start on the next chap so cya!** **12/26**


	5. Teacher-Guardian conference

Edward Elric had good eyes. That was ne of the few things that hadn't changed in his forty plus years on this side of the gate.

The others being his alchemy, his observational skills, and of course his little brother Alphonse.

But back to his eyes.

One thing he had gained after he crossed into this place was an ability to see things in low light.

All of this means that it was no chore to notice the person creeping up behind him.

Really it was child's play

The man was basically stomping.

"STUPEFY!" Edward heard, but he ducked and the spell went right over his head.

The man tried again.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS"

Ed dropped quick to the grounds and slid a leg under his assailant, tripping a man in a turban.

Edward was shocked and offended that the person Dumbledore had sent to apprehend was this fool.

"What is the password to get Into Dumbledore's office?" He interrogated holding the man down, his automail hand pressed roughly to the mans head so he could feel the cool, hard metal.

The man in the turban cowered in fear before managing to utter out this two word sentence:

"lem-lemo- lemon dr-dr-drops"

"What was that?""

"LEMON DROPS DON'T HURT ME PLEASE!" The man said before pulling himself to a standing position and stumbling/running over to a nearby courtyard.

Edward snuck into the second floor corridor window via a hanging vine before using a few shortcuts (the locations of which he'd bought in diagon alley) to make his way to the corridor just outside of the headmasters office.

Edward stepped inside the old office and immediately apparent were three things:

1) A silver trinket - one of several - was spinning, buzzing, and flickering.

2) An elderly Phoenix glaring malevolently at him from it's perch next to

3) Headmaster Albus Dumbledore sitting in his weel chair, stumps incredibly obvious where his legs had once been.

"Come to steal from me Edward? You couldn't get what you wanted through diplomacy so you decided to use force. Well the stone isn't here. Flamel has just arrived and taken back the stone." A lie but Dumbledore knew Edward would believe it.

"Flamel was here?!" Edward had had a speech prepared but this news left him dumbfounded.

"Yes and he'll be here later on this week to help Severus with something as well."

'Listen Albus. I didn't come for the stone I don't want the stone. And Flamel is bad news." a mental image of the tall, dark haired, sharp faced, pale skinned man filled his head and his side with phantom pains.

"the aurors have been alerted-"

"That a legal guardian wishes to express his concerns about the treatment of his younger brother at the hands of the schools administration?" Edward interrupted smirking before continuing, "I haven't done anything illegal."

"Edward you brutally assaulted a member of my staff"

"Self defense. he tried to jinx me first."

"You trespassed on the grounds of my school."

"That's not illegal. People show up here uninvited all the time"

"Without all that the aurors still have more than enough reason to send you to Azkaban Edward." Dumbledore said this with a solemn expression, trying to impress upon Edward the dangerous position he was in.

"Albus. I told you before that Flamel is dangerous. He's a liar. A monster." the young alchemist wanted to help Dumbledore because at the end of the day he was just a man.

"The aurors are here. Goodbye Edward."

Edward looked like a deer in the headlights.

Edward couldn't get sent to Azkaban. He had too many plans. He was needed free.

luckily he had ordered himself a ride.

He ran to the closest window and called one word.

"Paracelsus"

Another man on a broomstick appeared and Ed Jumped on.

Dumbledore ran to the window and watched the broomstick as it flew above the school, disappearing into the clouds.

Several people stumbled out of Dumbledore's fireplace.

"drop your wand and get on the ground!" a new recruit, hair bright pink, yelled into the room.

Another, older auror stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder.

"he's gone Nymphadora." The man gave Dumbledore a look. "Right Dumbledore?"

"He's just escaped. Alastor he had an accomplice."

Alastor Moody looked bewildered.

"who"

"Paracelsus."

 **howdy.** **im kinda starved for reviews here so im not uploading the next one til i get like**

 **five reviews. happy new years though.** **1/1/2018**


	6. A different point of view

Albus Dumbledore tried not to make a habbit of judging people based on what other people told him about them.

That being said, the heinous nature of the young man's transgressions left a sour taste in the Headmaster's mouth.

Of course Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was nothing if not open minded so when he saw two young men who matched perfectly the descriptions Nicholas Flamel had given him he jumped at the opportunity to make some acquaintances and maybe assess the threat these two posed.

Blond hair, gold eyes. These key descriptors couldn't possibly refer to many people.

Stirred from from his thoughts by a blast of warm air and a flash of light Albus looked up and saw a fireball erupt from the older ones mouth.

The sight was so ridiculous he chuckled.

This brought the attention of the previously agitated young man onto the old wizard which led to him being addressed.

"Something funny old man?" The boy asked, eyebrows looking a bit singed but still mostly there.

The boy looked suspicious of him so Dumbledore tried to respond as smoothly and benevolently as he could

"Nothing my boy, I just thought it was funny seeing someone try their first firewhisky" The elderly headmaster soothed failingly. He held his hand out.

"My name is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore and I am headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchraftand Wizardry." He smiled warmly for added affect.

The young man seemed reluctant to give the wizard his hand but seemed to think diplomacy was key and shook.

'Strong grip' thought Dumbledore.

"Edward Elric. Nice to meet you but we really must be going." He grabbed his accomplices hand and pulled him out through the back door.

"Not to worry Mister Elric" Dumbledore said out loud and than thought, 'I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon'.

Tom walked over to Dumbledore.

"Professor do you know those boys?"

Dumbledore smiled his benevolent smile, "Can't say I've had the pleasure, Tom."

 **POV SWITCH**

Lucius Malfoy, the very picture of pureblood excellence. He was a Slytherin down to his bones and he practically sweat ambition.

Lucius Malfoy the Deatheater had been entrusted with a few rare side projects including but not limited to the study of alchemy not to learn it but to learn how it could benefit the dark lord.

He had also been tasked with hunting down a philosopher's stone.

Of course everyone in the wizarding world knew the only philosopher's stone had been created by Nicholas Flamel.

What had been less common knowledge was that the very same man who had been supposed to create the only known homunculus had been spotted on several different occasions throughout the centuries.

Blonde hair worn back. Bright Gold eyes.

Phillipus Aureolas Theophrastus Bombastus Van Hohenheim.

Better known as Paracelsus.

 **hey guuuuys!!!!!!!!!** **i made this one a bit longer... i think.** **hope you liked it!** **make sure to review lol.** **1/14**


	7. disoriented

Alphonse wasn't in a good mood.

He had been at Hogwarts for a little under two days and he'd already been dislocated.

He assumed he would have someone to take him to his new room but when he left Professor Snape's office no one was waiting for him.

Alphonse felt a bit apprehensive wandering the school at such a late hour but he soldiered through it.

The corridor leading from Snape's office to the Slytherin common room was very dark and Alphonse was sure he recognized mold on the roof by the wall.

As he walked through the dungeon he began to realise he had no idea where he was going.

He turned a corner and he had trouble comprehending what he was witnessing;

Two near identical young men were standing in front of him, bright red hair pointing in all directions and robes in disarray were standing in front of a portrait of a bowl of fruit, arms piled high with pies, chickens, puddings, and several different types of meat pie.

It appeared that he noticed them before they noticed him but that doesn't mean that they didn't notice him.

As he was debating whether or not he should retreat or see if they were friendly one of them dropped a pie and, after leaning down to pick it up, made eye contact with the lurking Slytherin.

 **howdy folks** **. sorry for the short chapter and the delay. ive been in a bit of a sloop when ot comes to writing so the chaps are probably gonna come a bit slower.** **any of you guys got any good fma hp crossover fics? ive been having trouble finding ones ive not read.**

 **also** **, to the lady or gentleman who took offense to my lack of capitalisation on an i in my authors note 1) it's just an authors note** **2) thats how i talk so im gonna type like that too.** **3) i read your one (1) story and you could probably do with some editing on that one just a btw.**

3/5


	8. A Change of Place

Draco Malfoy had spent his entire life living under the assumption that, by virtue of his blood, he was untouchable, superior.

This assumption was brought to a grinding halt the day his father collided with Edward Elric on his way into the leaky cauldron.

POV SWITCH

Lucius Malfoy had plants, spies, and insiders aplenty so it was surprising that when he found a man who appeared to be Parcelsus having a firewhisky with Albus Dumbledore and perhaps an apprentice completely by accident.

To set the scene:

Lucius Malfoy had just finished a successful meeting with Borgin and Burke about a very lovely antique ebony and ivory key piano.

Of course he couldn't play but he'd been meaning to get Draco a music tutor.

Music, he'd decided, was an important skill for any pureblooded noblemen

Anyway, he was going off to have a celebratory Butterbeer and he walked into the leaky cauldron to find a young man fitting the following description:

•Long blond hair

•Gold eyes

•Fair skin

•Long coat

This is the description that was laid out in a biography of Paracelsus that he'd found in the back of a bookstore on Knockturn Alley ten years earlier, the book itself having been written no later than one hundred and fifty years after the discovery of the new world.

This didn't lend to the credibility of the book but he still decided to hang back and observe.

After a few minutes of this the young man presumed to be Paracelsus stood and rushed out the back of the leaky cauldron, crashing into Lucius Malfoy giving him the opportunity to be ever so gracious, mention how it was his fault really, and asked if they were new in town as they had the subtlest trace of an accent.

The younger one (at least appearance wise) seemed to carry a bit of apprehension but still took the conversational bait as they walked out of the building and into Diagon Alley.

"Yes actually, my brother had a teaching job in Germany until a few months ago and now we are looking for work" Paracelsus's companion was absolutely delightful. "By the way my name's Alphonse Elric and this is my brother Edward."

"It is nice to meet you both. My name is Lucius Malfoy," he waited a tick for the sudden recognition and respect owed to one of his stature…

And received none.

Maybe they hadn't heard of him in Germany.

The two were looking at him blankly so he decided to run with the earlier assumption and reached out his hand to shake 'Alphonse's' hand and then turned to 'Edward' who held out his left hand.

'strange' Lucius thought, but brushed it off as a quirk.

"Have you gentlemen found a place to stay as you search for work? I'd be delighted to put you up in my manor?" And, having read up on basic alchemic principals tacked on "we can think up a suitable equivalent exchange later" he threw on a wink for good measure.

He was rewarded with a pair of wide eyed young men, the younger one grinning

'I've got you now'

 **BIT OF A TIME SKIP**

 **AND ALSO A POV SWITCH**

Alphonse walked up the steps of Malfoy Manor. They'd seen a lot that day but travel via fireplace took the cake.

He looked around the big beautiful stone room with it's tall walls and it's large carpet over the floor.

Edward had been eyeing everything suspiciously and right now it looked like he was tying his shoe but Alphonse saw what he was really doing.

He was knocking on the floor. Presumably to see if it was hollow.

Alphonse walked up to his older brother who made eye contact before quickly nodding his head towards the crest on the carpet indicating a door.

Lucius Malfoy who had walked ahead of his group called back to them.

"Gentlemen if you are staying with me I absolutely must show you the grand tour!"

And thus, began a long long **_long_** and boring tour through the Malfoy ancestral home.

A few key highlights being:

The kitchen. Lots of state of the art appliances… for the fifteenth century.

The bathrooms, half bathrooms, and powder rooms.

The main courtyard, not to be confused with the flower garden, the secondary courtyard, or the horse pasture.

Sitting room, not to be confused with the salon, the living room, the lounge, or the den.

And of course, Ed and Al's immediate favorite the Malfoy Manor Library.

Lucius seemed to think he was starting from the most to least impressive as he left the library for last and seemed perfectly unenthused by it, while simultaneously shocked how excited the Elric Brother's were.

"You gentlemen seem to have found a way to pass the time so I think I'll leave you to youre studies but tomorrow let's talk about how you can repay me," Lucius said to the young men who were too busy to notice.

Lucius Malfoy walked out of the library, a room which he spent very little time in choosing to entertain himself in other ways.

Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy, a young and impressionable lad who appeared to be the same age as Alphonse walked into one of his little escapes to find two complete strangers devouring the bookshelves like a pair of particularly large termites.

He was not impressed.

He must have stood there for several minutes before Edward put down a very worn copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander, looked up, and made eye contact with the young heir.

 **howdy folks! i'll be honest this one took me a coupla days. yall do the walkout? i did.** **so now that that's oit of the way...** **i m gonna need five more reviews before i upload the next one.** **I'm trying for a sort of symmetry between this one and the other one.**

3/17


	9. new rooms and a fancy stick

Ollivander was used to a steady trickle of wizards over the course of the summer so he was surprised when, two days after Hogwarts started, a cloaked wizard stumbled into his place of business and sat on a seat that hadn't been there when he'd unlocked the door in the morning.

"Hello there sir, I'll be with you," He assured the cloaked wizard who just gave him a thumbs up.

Ollivander finished putting a box on a shelf before grabbing his typical first start wands and carting them over to the front counter and setting them down in front of the cloaked man.

Ollivander was unpacking a wand when the cloaked man stood up, took three purposeful strides toward the door, locked it, and tightly pulled the blinds closed.

"Um excuse me? You uh, can't do that."

The man turned back to him and made his way back to the counter.

"Sir I must ask why you see these acts as necessary!"

The man looked back at the owner of the wand shop before removing his hood.

"... Oh." Ollivander understood now why the cloaked man

was taking such preparations.

The man standing before him was young appearing no older than nineteen with long blond hair tied back into a ponytail, his red cloaK hood was covering up a grey scarf. Shining brightly towards him were the stunning gold eyes so often documented but not well described when one stood right up close.

"Mister Elric, sir, I wonder why you saw fit to appear in my humble place of work when, when we last spoke, you decided it best to appear in my home unannounced. Is your brother's wand serving him well?"

Elric looked at him with clear disrespect, having not a high opinion of the man in front of him.

"Listen gramps, I need a wand. I've been getting by without one but it's becoming a hassle."

Ollivander hadn't realised that the well known terrorist in front of him was without a wand. He didn't want to say anything derogatory about it though so he continued grabbing the box and pulling out a brown, polished wand an handed it to him.

"You know there's a ten thousand galleon bounty on your head," The wandmaker asked, pulling the wand out of Elric's hand and putting another there before switching it with a long black wand.

"I'm aware. I also know that you won't be the one to cash me in." Elric gave him a shit eating grin before twitching the wand and settingfire to a desk with all of Ollivander's tools.

Ollivander absentmindedly put out the desk before picking the wand and examining it.

"How much do you think the prophet would pay for knowledge of your arm and leg? A hundred galleons? A thousand? And I know you did that on purpose. I see the wand chose you. Put on your cloak and leave from the roof. Leave the twelve galleons you owe me on the desk."

Edward left a sack of more than twelve galleons on the desk, put on his coat, and flicked up his hood, before heading up the steps and onto the roof.

 **POV SWITCH**

"How was your meeting Edward? I've got a meeting with madame Bones so if you want to be dropped off somewhere or I can let you borrow my invisibility cloak?" Van Hohenheim was sitting on a broom stick and waiting for his son.

"You can drop me off at the manor. I'm going to Fidelius it."

"Okay, Edward."

 **POV SWITCH**

George Weasley locked eyes with the first year who had made a bigger splash than even Harry Potter.

He looked scared.

"Fred we've got a tail." He nudged his brother who looked up.

"Hullo there young man! Don't you know it's against the rules to be out of bed after curfew? You could lose your house a lot of points! Joking of course! Name's Gred and this is my brother Forge!"

"Hi Gred, I'm Alphonse Elric... Could you two show me how to get to my room?"

Fred and George looked at each other, then back at Alphonse, and then back at each other, and then again at Alphonse.

"Isn't the Slytherin common room in the dungeon? And also, why aren't you in bed right now? A young man needs eight good hours each night!"

"Yes but I'm roomed somewhere else..." He looked down at his feet.

"We'd be happy to, but would you like to come with us instead?" Alphonse looked George in the eye before nodding his head vigorously and following them to their common room.

When they reached the portrait of the fat lady Alphonse had to cover his ears while they said the password so when it had been said Fred had to grab Alphonse's hand to bring him inside.

Once inside the Gryffindor common room, Alphonse felt as though he'd made a huge mistake.

His green and silver Slytherin robes stood out like a sore thumb.

 **POV SWITCH**

Ron Weasley was waiting for his brothers to get back with some food when in they walked...

And they had a Slytherin following them! What were they thinking? Did they not have the sense to know that the house rivals shouldn't be in the common room? Ridiculous!

"And just who exactly is this? Don't you know it's against the rules to have someone from another house in our common room? What if McGonagall finds out?" Percy had been sitting in one of the armchairs when he noticed the boy just after Ron did.

Good that he's talking some sense into them.

 **POV SWITCH**

Harry saw the Slytherin shuffling on his feet and realised with a start that he was the boy who'd been sorted and had caused such a fuss.

Alphonse Elric.

Even the muggle world knew about Edward Elric, but only as the supposed mentor of a German rocket scientist, and not as a terrorist, and he was almost certainly not in his seventies.

"Hey Ron, how old is Edward Elric?," Harry nudged Ron who was intently watching Percy tear into the twins over their visitor.

"No one knows exactly since he only really made a name for 'imself about a year ago when he stole the Malfoy fortune, serves 'em right. I've seen pictures of him though. Dad met him at the ministry once with Lucius. He says he didn't look older'n eighteen. Gold eyes and long blond hair."

"What did he do that makes everyone so afraid of him?"

"Well like i said, he stole the Malfoy fortune, but then about eight months ago he broke into Gringotts and released a few dragons and collapsed a coupl'a old vaults. Supposedly he even has his hand in counterfeit currency though Merlin knows why he'd need it." Ron explained.

Harry's attention was drawn to Elric again. He was crouching by the fire warming his hands, and then from his robe he pulled out a scroll of parchment and started writing.

Harry wanted to know what he was writing and apparently Hermione Granger was wondering the exact same thing since she walked right up to him to ask that very question.

"Hi there, I'm Hermione Granger, you're in Slytherin house? That's interesting! Is it true that you're Edward Elric's brother? Are you two really muggle born? What are you writing?" On this last question she gave him time to answer.

The poor boy looked a bit overwhelmed but he just said "I'm writing a letter"

Hermione, though, tackled this four word sentence with complete zeal.

"Oh a letter! Do you have an owl? Who's the letter to? Is it to your brother?"

Alphonse stood abruptly. He turned to Fred and George.

"Do either of you have an owl I can use? I need to send this letter."

Harry perked up at this.

"I have an owl you can use."

Alphonse rushed quickly over to the pair, "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Harry nodded.

"Thank you very much! I owe you!"

Harry went up to the first year boys dormitory quickly followed by by Ron.

"Harry what are you doing? You can't just let the little brother of a known menace to society use your owl like that! Bloody hell are you mad?" Ron was clearly not thrilled with the idea.

"Look Ron, he's just sending a letter. You heard Hermione, they were muggle born, he's probably sending a letter home or to his girlfriend. Anyway, s'not like I'm using her."

He grabbed Hedwig and brought her downstairs.

"So I just tie it onto her leg? " Alphonse was clearly unfamiliar with the mechanics of sending a letter by owl. Harry helped him tie the letter onto the owl and they brought her to the window where she swiftly took flight.

 **happy easter guys. hows it going?cool. so i justwrote this really fucking awful fullmetal alchemist shrek thing so i could get a beta and yall can go read that but its reallg bad. also... how do i get a beta? anyway sorry for the late one. ive not been busy just lazy.** **five reviews anf o get to the next one. cheers!** **5\4**


	10. A newly acquired home

Draco Malfoy was standing in front of the two young men watching them unamusedly.

He'd been standing there for three minutes without being addressed.

Finally, the older of the two of his father's guests set down the book he'd been reading and looked up to see the Malfoy heir.

"Hey, kid," he addressed the pureblood child casually.

"Excuse me?" Malfoy sneered, unused to being addressed in such a manner.

Alphonse had looked up by this time and seen the oncoming argument and decided he might step in.

"Hi there! You must be Draco! Your dad talked about you a lot."

"You two must be father's guests. He said to come get you." Draco then stepped back out of the room and down the hall.

Edward stood there for a second before following the boy.

"Did he say where?" He demanded.

Draco started for a second. "Uh, yeah. His study." He then ran off up the closest set of stairs.

"Al, come on!" Ed called before he made his way down the corridor to the study of Mister Lucius Malfoy.

 **POV SWITCH**

Lucius sat at his desk with a quill and parchment in front of him, fine Indian ink to his left, and a large silver platter, situated on top of which was a bottle of basilisk venom wine with a touch of veritaserum and three crystal glasses. A house elf shifted from foot to foot in a corner, on standby.

"Dobby, make sure Paracelsus is on his way." A snap and a pop and the room was empty of any other presence.

Malfoy stepped out of his desk seat (a claw footed affair with a velvet seat cushion. Others might think it a bit garish but it matched his desk and it was comfortable, plus Lucius liked it so shut up.) and walked over to his bookshelf (which took up the entire wall, of course). He pulled out six books, two of which were historical accounts, one spellbook, one potion making book, an autobiography, and finally a journal.

These books all had one thing in common: the Author, Paracelsus.

A knock sounded on his solid mahogany and he set the books on a stool off to the side before heading to the door and opening it.

"Come right in, gentlemen. Would you like something to drink?" Lucius gestured to the wine bottle, which hovered off the tray and began pouring its' contents into the glasses.

"No thank you, Mister Malfoy. I don't drink, and Al's too young," Ed waved a hand.

Lucius Malfoy nodded and pointed his wand at the still pouring bottle which, along with the glasses and platter, vanished from the room.

 ***snap* *pop***

"Dobby doesn't see him, sir," Dobby reappeared in the room.

Lucius Malfoy glared at the house elf.

"Dobby, go sweep the drive!" Lucious snarled. That should keep the blasted creature out of the way, the drive of the Malfoy estate was a little over half of a mile long.

 ***pop* *snap***

Meanwhile, Malfoy's two guests surveyed the scene with bewilderment. Lucius cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, gentlemen, I think it's time we had a discussion." He looked meaningfully at Paracelsus, and then again at Alphonse before nodding his head to the chairs in front of his desk.

Alphonse immediately sat down, followed a half second later by his "Brother".

Lucius carried the books he'd gathered from his shelf and then set them down in front of the brothers.

"I know your secret," Lucius said simply, a dark smirk on his face directed towards Edward particularly.

 **POV SWITCH**

Alphonse looked between the two men uncomfortably.

"Uh, Mister Malfoy, sir, I don't think we know what you're talking about…" he said hesitantly.

Lucius looked to the boy, disdain clear on his face. "Young man, please go sit in the parlour while I speak with Paracelsus."

Alphonse looked bewildered and Edward looked shocked at the utterings of the man.

He looked to Alphonse. "Please go wait out in the parlour." In German, he added, "I'll see what he wants."

Alphonse rose, a frown playing at the corners of his lips, but left the room, closing the door behind him. Edward looked back toward the man before him and raised an eyebrow.

"What is it that you want?"

Lucius smiled, glad that he hadn't been mistaken.

"You're going to tell me," he smiled, a big crocodile smile, revealing too-white teeth, "The secret to the Philosopher's Stone."

"Why the hell would I do that?" Ed responded pleasantly, grinning in such a manner that he could rival a rabid dog.

"I can think of a reason," Lucius replied, and slowly slid the top right-hand drawer out from the desk.

"And what is tha-!"

"IMPERIUS!" Lucius shot his wand out, pointing right at Ed's seat where his head had been only moments before.

Ed had the sense to duck his head before reaching his hands up and grabbing the wand out of his hand.

Ed tossed the wand up into the air, clapped his hand, and caught it again. The resulting flash of light made Malfoy have to turn his head away and shield his eyes.

When the flashing died down, Lucius looked up and had his eyes blinded again when Edward blew a fistful of dust into his eyes.

"I hope," Ed said to the grown man cowering and wiping roughly at his eyes, "that we understand each other a little bit better, Mister Malfoy."

Malfoy looked up to find a large blade centimeters from his face, extending from his guests' arm.

"Yes... I think we do, Paracelsus." He started to pick himself up, using his desk as an anchor while his other hand pushed him up from the ground.

Edward stepped on this hand.

"ACKH! Dear God that hurts! Why?"

"What do you want the philosopher's stone for?" Edward questioned, his golden eyes hard as he leaned harder on the older man's hand.

"To help restore the Dark Lord to his former power. Surely-ergh! You, as a pureblood, can understand! The Hohenheim family line has been around for hundreds of years! It's a surprise you weren't one with Lord Voldemort from the beginning!" The man explained.

"And you expect me to give you the stone for free? That's not how this works. There needs to be an exchange. You have to give me something in return. Something worth as much to you as the stone." Edward waited for a response before he started grinding the hand some more until Malfoy finally called out.

"Aah! Anything! I'll give you anything!" Malfoy said desperately.

"Anything?" Ed asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yes!" Malfoy responded "Anything." He panted "anything."

Edward walked over to the door and called for his younger brother.

"He's better at this sort of thing" Ed said to the man who had shakily gotten to his feet.

Ed then sat in Lucius Malfoy's favorite chair before frowning, looking down at it, clapping his hands and pressing them to the chair.

Another flash of light and the chair Ed was sitting in became a very different chair.

It was tall and dark with a black flamel cross on the back and Gargoyle heads on the arms, the cushion was replaced with a hard seat, and the back was covered by a velvet blanket.

Alphonse entered the room and sat at the other side of the desk.

Malfoy was still on the ground.

"The question, Lucius Malfoy, is what constitutes everything? To you specifically I mean. So what does that mean? Everything you own?" Edward asked the man.

Malfoy looked at him like he would the devil himself.

"Everything it is within my power to give." Malfoy crossed his wrist unconsciously.

Edward looked him in the eye before softly muttering "good" and turning to Alphonse.

"Al I need you to write up a contract stating that, in exchange for the secret of the philosopher's stone, we will get all of his possessions." He turned to Lucius "If you break this agreement we don't have to giveyou the recipe but we still get all your things." Ed clarified before turning back to Alphonse. "Not including their clothes of course. Only their clothes"

Alphonse wrote up the contract before handing it to Ed.

Ed looked it over before signing and dating it and then handing the paper to Malfoy.

"You're turn." He smirked.

Malfoy took the quill from the offering hand and signed and dated as well.

"Okay Lucius Malfoy all of your things belong to us and when you leave this house the philosopher's stone is yours."

 **POV SWITCH**

Lucius was unsure of how to tell his wife and son to empty their pockets and leave the house but he tried to explain it as best he could.

They weren't happy.

"You gave away all of our stuff?" Narcissa demanded.

"It was a symbolic gesture! Of willingness!"

"But what about my bedroom!" Draco asked.

"It's only temporary." Lucius assured. "But now, we must empty our pockets and leave the house." He then decided to lead by example and emptied his pockets.

His wife and son followed suit and they made their way out of the house.

Paracelsus walked out after them before turning to Lucius.

"Are you sure that none of your old possessions are on your person? Nothing?"

"Yes" Malfoy answered back, nodding firmly.

"Do you swear it?" Paracelsus demanded.

A small pause and then "I swear it.

"Swear it."

"I Lucius Malfoy, being of sound body and mind, declare that nothing that I signed over in the contract to Edward Elric is on my person, or the person's of my family."

A pain shot through Lucius Malfoy's heart as he looked up to see Paracelsus shaking his head.

He walked over to Draco and held out an open palm in front of him.

Draco looked horrified before holding a shaking palm outward and dropping a single golden galleon into the hand of Paracelsus.

The meaning of this hit Lucius like a runaway hippogriff and he was filled with a horrified rage.

"Boy I can't believe you've cost me this chance! You will be punished severely for this!" He then stumbled back and called "Dobby!" Nothing.

"Dobby in Merlin's name I will beat you with chains"

Nothing.

The blond alchemist appeared in front of him.

"Dobby?"

 ***snap* *pop***

"Please see the Malfoy's off of my property."

The house elf looked up at the blond and then at the Malfoy's before smiling and saying, "Yes, sir."

 **hey there guys, whats up? it was my birthday yesterday! also this is way longer than usual so i hope you enjoyed it!** **anyway y'all should go read and review my forst chap for my new story disorganized crime!**

5/3


	11. A lousy Arrangement and an abduction

Edward Eric plopped down on one of the many sofas in one of the many sitting rooms in the manor that was his.

Edward had had some time to reflect on his conversation with Dumbledore and decided he would have to warn Alphonse that Flamel would be there.

He stood and walked out of the sitting room, donned his cloak, and left via the floo.

He had to speak with someone.

 **POV SWITCH**

Minerva McGonagall was a very busy woman.

She had gotten to sleep a little late the night before, as it was the day before the new school year and, aside from the two more interesting first years, she'd rather keep the independent variables to a minimum.

She had made sure she had enough chalk to last until December, at which point she would restock her stores; given the banned items list a study; and made sure she had enough spare textbooks in her supplies room. Not that children would ever stop "misplacing" their textbooks in their trunks and conveniently finding them on the last day of the term (or not at all).

Needless to say, Minerva got to sleep quite late.

When she awoke, she decided it might be a fine idea to check the common room for extensive damages before the students woke up.

The fat lady hadn't asked for the password in thirty years, so McGonagall was surprised when the portrait, surprisingly alert for four in the morning, stiffly requested, "Password."

Minerva stiffened for a moment, unmoving.

"Come now Lizzie, I work here. I've known you for years."

The painting stood stoically in her portrait, arms crossed. Waiting.

McGonagall mirrored her posture. Stubborn woman McGonagall may be, she wasn't a five hundred year old painting. After around ninety minutes, she finally caved.

"Fine! Caput Draconis!" The portrait swung forward, and Minerva straightened her robes before striding purposefully into the common room.

The room looked exactly like it had always had, with one glaring exception.

A Slytherin robe was on a chair by the fire, which, while not inherently strange (in fact the year before Fred and George Weasley had stolen the entire house's wardrobe and left them with orange and gold lace dress robes), contained a slumbering Slytherin student.

Alphonse Elric, brother of infamous Edward Elric, who had arrived that night and attempted to assault the already fragile headmaster.

She strode over to him and grabbed his robes.

"Young Man, you come with me right this instant!" She hissed at the confused boy who rubbed at his eyes.

"Wha! Where am I?" He asked, gazing around the common room with sleep-clouded eyes.

"The question is why you are here, and we'll get to it in my office!"

POV SWITCH

Albus Dumbledore had received a note from both Professors McGonagall, and Snape in reference to the first year Alphonse Elric.

Mr Elric, it seemed, made the other Slytherin's uncomfortable and was moved to separate rooms according to Professor Snape.

Mr Elric had been caught sleeping on one of the Gryffindor chairs when McGonagall had found him. They had scheduled a meeting to decide what the punishment would be.

Dumbledore couldn't help thinking about his meeting with Edward.

The boy had been genuinely, justifiably angry, and Dumbledore thought that maybe he should have listened.

But on the other hand…

Why would Flamel tell Albus not to trust the Elrics if he had no reason?

Professor McGonagall stormed into the room followed by the first year Alphonse Elric, looking a lot meeker than he had when Albus had seen him last.

Snape glided in after them, sneering and white knuckled with anger.

Albus took in the two professors with bemusement, changing his focus to the the errant first year.

"Tell me, Minerva, why isn't this boy at breakfast? It's the most important meal of the day!" He broached the subject carefully, acting as though his concern was for the boys nutrition and not, in fact the boys relation to his late night visitor.

McGonagall looked taken aback.

"He will do no such thing! Not before we get this mess settled anyway"She began amended, before taking a calming breath and starting over.

"He didn't sleep in the Slytherin dormitory last night, Albus. I found him in the Gryffindor common room this morning. Ask Severus why he was there." She gestured towards Snape and Albus redirecting his attention towards the potions professor.

Snape glared at the first year before beginning.

"Are we going to ignore the fact that this boy is the only known relative of Edward Elric? His brother made the Malfoy family," and here he shot a glance at the boy "whose child is currently in Slytherin house, nonetheless! - destitute. He makes other students uncomfortable and I can't leave them in the same classes or rooms without incident." Dumbledore looked Snape in the eye.

"Minerva, you didn't mention that his class schedule is different to that of his housemates," he looked sternly at her.

McGonagall looked at Alphonse.

"It's news to me as well. Mister Elric, what do you have to say about this?"

Alphonse shifted from foot to foot and sighed.

"Well, Professor, yesterday I was writing a letter to my brother, when the Bloody Baron came and told me that Professor Snape," he gestured to Snape, "wanted to see me. I went to talk to him, but as I was walking in I bumped into Draco Malfoy," he paused, before continuing in one breath, "and then I met with Professor Snape and he told me that I make certain students uncomfortable and that I would be staying in a room on the third floor somewhere and I'd be having all of my classes with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws." He stepped back, panting lightly.

Dumbledore nodded sagely. "It seems to me that, while Severus had no right to do that," he leveled a stern glance at the potions master, "you also shouldn't have broken into the Gryffindor common room, and-"

"I never broke in."

Dumbledore paused, unused to the bold interruption.

"If you didn't break in, Mister Elric, tell me how it came to be that you were found asleep in the Gryffindor common room," Dumbledore questioned softly.

Alphonse looked him in the eyes and answered simply.

"Someone let me in."

McGonagall was taken aback, "Who?"

Alphonse looked at her. "Will they get in trouble?"

Snape jumped in "Absolutely! It is prohibited to let someone from another house inside your house's common room."

Dumbledore shook his head with a small smile, "Actually, it has never been expressly forbidden. Indeed, it was originally suggested that students from other houses be very social with each other. The custom has grown out of use, but entering common rooms other than your own was never banned. Now, Mister Elric, who were the people who let you into the Gryffindor common room?" He asked kindly, pale blue eyes twinkling.

Alphonse looked at him, then to Professor McGonagall, and finally to Snape.

"Err, they didn't... tell me their names… Sorry…" Al lied unconvincingly.

McGonagall and Snape looked at him like he was a fool.

"Well that's a shame, Mr. Elric. Without a corroborating witness, we must operate under the assumption that you broke in." Dumbledore told the boy.

"What's the punishment for that?" Alphonse asked concernedly.

"Well, that should depend on the relevant Professors, shouldn't it, Alphonse." Dumbledore responded.

Snape immediately jumped in.

"For disobeying me and not going directly to your rooms, you'll lose fifty points and have detention in my office and every Saturday for two months."

McGonagall then said, "And, for being in the Gryffindor common room without permission, you will meet me in my office after school every day indefinitely."

Suddenly, the fireplace in the corner flared green and Mad-Eye Moody lumbered into the room lugging a large trunk and sweating noticeably.

His electric blue prosthetic eye whizzed around the room, locking on to its' occupants, before he dropped the trunk and took a swig from a flask at his hip.

POV SWITCH

Van Hohenheim had just finished a small dinner with Bathilda Bagshot and a few of her colleagues before setting off to the former Malfoy Manor.

Upon arriving, he decided something was off.

The building was gone. As was the drive leading up to it. And in its place was a large forest.

Hohenheim stood flabbergasted for several seconds before realizing what must be going on.

Edward had used the Fidelius charm to hide the land. He stood there for another several minutes admiring the spellwork when someone joined him.

Hohenheim turned his head to observe the man next to him only to find one of the most cut up individuals he had ever seen.

He was covered in scars and his nose was missing a large chunk out of it, but most shocking of all was his left eye.

The original eye had definitely been removed and was replaced with a glass eye, though this one had a very large range of independent motion.

The glass eye was housed in a metal ring, attached to a leather strap that went around the man's head like an eyepatch. It was electric blue in hue - at least, when the iris rolled around so that he wasn't looking through the back of his head.

His other eye was black and glaring.

"Hello there! My name is Van Hohenheim. Just admiring the landscape," He held out his hand casually for a shake.

The electric blue eye looked Hohenheim up and down and then up again before focusing on a spot somewhere on the left side of his chest.

The man squinted his normal eye before pulling out his wand.

"Avada Kedavra," he murmured, pointing it directly at the spot on his chest.

Before the spell could hit, a pillar of ground shot up and blocked the burst of green light.

Hohenheim looked at the man carefully, reassessing the situation.

"That's the same shit Elric used when he broke into Gringotts. And you have the same substance running through you as that Flamel. That, coupled with the blond hair and the golden eyes…"

Hohenheim studied the man before him carefully.

"I don't know what conclusion you're trying to come to, but-"

"Petrificus Totalus!" The wizard shot back, and this time Hohenheim wasn't prepared.

He had a blurry view of the man from the corner of his eye as he apparated them elsewhere, but as soon as the tight, uncomfortable sensation abated he was thrust into a chest. There was a moment of weightlessness, before the breath was knocked out of him as he landed on a hard floor. He could see a small patch of light far above him before that, too, was snuffed out.

POV SWITCH

Edward stepped into his fireplace and out of small fire in the hut of Rubeus Hagrid.

The half-giant was sitting on the floor of his hut trimming his dog's nails' when Edward stepped in.

"Hello. You're Hagrid, right?" He asked calmly.

Hagrid looked up, not expecting an intruder, and fell backwards in shock.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Nervous sweat beaded on Hagrid's brow.

"Listen, Hagrid. I need you to do me a favor. Nothing big. I need someone to look after my brother while he's here, and… I don't trust the staff."

Hagrid looked at him dubiously.

"Are you trying to say… you want me to look after your brother?"

Edward looked at him strangely.

"I did just say that, yeah. You'll be payed, of course." He added.

Hagrid's eyes hardened, then he finally spoke.

"I think we should involve Dumbledore in this."

Edward looked at him like he was the stupidest man on Earth.

"No. I'm talking to you."

Hagrid looked away.

"But why me? Why not someone else?"

Edward looked thoughtful.

"You're a good man, and you seem like a trustworthy person."

Hagrid was speechless.

Edward set a small bag of gold on the table.

"I have the Gringotts goblins funneling money from my vaults into yours specifically for this. It's nothing big. Just ask him over for tea or something."

And with that he stepped back into the fireplace and disappeared.

 **hiya folks. so that took longer than expected... so that one guy who commented "no one reads your garbage" on my tenth chapter, congrats! you played yourself. and to the gentleman who said that i shouldn't be ransoming off my chapters for reviews, i agree but also i like to know what yall think.** **and finally, i have a beta now. thats why this chap is way better. she dont do my authors notes though lmao.** **6/11**


	12. party planning and wand getting

Edward was reading in the Manor Library when there came a soft tapping on the window. He looked up to see quite the unique sight: on the still perched a bird that appeared to be…

Smoking?

In a very, very literal sense, this bird was on fire.

Ed rushed to the window to let the bird in, and it flew into the room and landed on the table at which he'd been reading.

Ed walked over to inspect the bird. It didn't look as though the fire was causing it any pain. After a cursory glance over it, he realized what had landed on his table.

A Phoenix.

In alchemy, the Phoenix represented the circle of life as well as the process of alchemy itself. Life, death, and rebirth, or rather, understanding, deconstruction, and reconstruction.

None of that served to explain why the mythical creature was on his table.

The bird nudged his hand, prompting Ed to study the creature further and discover something he hadn't noticed before.

Tethered to it's foot was a small note.

He quickly untied the note and read it over.

"Alphonse!" Ed called, rousing his brother from his own reading on the other side of the room.

Al hurried over to where Ed was standing with the bird and the note.

"What kind of bird is that?" He asked, eyes alight with curiosity.

Ed responded without pause, "A Phoenix, but for now, that's not important. Look at this." He handed the note to Alphonse who took it and read it out loud.

"Dear Elric Brothers, it has come to my attention that you gentlemen have made quite the acquisition. If you would be open to hosting some guests, perhaps a housewarming party? I would love to help.

-Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump, order of Merlin first class." Alphonse frowned, then reread the missive in his head.

"What do you reckon his angle is?" Ed asked after Alphonse finished his second read through..

"I dunno, but he might be trying to get close. It feels like something Mustang would write, very manipulative, or maybe like Father? Not outwardly menacing, but enough subtext to get that kind of vibe. We might as well take him up on it though. Might be good to make some connections."

Ed was nodding his head. "So do we send him some RSVP cards or what?"

Alphonse sat for a moment looking, stumped.

"How about 'Dear Mister Dumbledore, we'd love to have you over for a housewarming party. Please bring your own guests, as we only know one person locally."

Ed was writing just that on the back of Dumbledore's letter when he had a thought. He pondered for a few moments, and as he started tying the note around the ankle of the Phoenix, he spoke.

"Should we invite Hohenheim?"

Alphonse thought for a moment, then in lieu of an answer just nodded.

Ed lifted the Phoenix and brought it towards the window and let it fly.

"If we're inviting Hohenheim, we need an owl." He turned to his brother. "Did the Malfoys have one?" Alphonse shrugged.

"Dobby," Ed said to the room.

With a snap the excitable house elf fell on the floor right in front of Ed.

"Hello Dobby. We were wondering if the Malfoys had an owl."

Dobby responded promptly, "Yes sirs, the Malfoys had many owls. Dobby takes care of them, Dobby does. The eagle owl Magnus is the most fast, yes sirs."

Ed snorted. "That's exactly the name they'd give an owl. Thank you Dobby. Oh! One more thing, actually, you wouldn't happen to know how one might get a wand, would you?"

Dobby thought for a minute, "Sir might try Ollivanders, sir. Dobby means no disrespect but… Is sir without a wand?"

Ed quickly palcated the elf.

"I don't need a wand, but Alphonse is going to Hogwarts so we'll need to buy him one."

The house elf nodded his large head. "Is that all sirs will be needing of Dobby?"

Ed nodded to the elf. Smiling contentedly, Dobby snapped his long, thin fingers and disapparated.

Ed looked at Alphonse.

"We should find 'Magnus' first, and go to Ollivanders after taking care of that. Then, we plan," a devilish smirk spread across the alchemist's face.

After a mad dash across the entire estate, Ed and Al discovered that they had passed the owlery, sandwiched as it was between the library and Lucious' old office. Finally entering their destination, they discovered a beautiful room, inside of which roosted several birds. The walls and floors were made of marble, a cubby-like nest in the walls for each bird. An identifying plaque was beneath each nest, and three ornate perches were arrayed in the center of the room. The ceiling was glass, and light streamed in, illuminating the dust in the air. Creeping ivy climbed the walls, framing a shut window on the far wall. "Magnus" was engraved in cursive under the largest cubby, inside of which a majestic owl preened.

Ed walked up to it, grabbed it roughly, and transported it to a drafting table in the library.

"What should we write?" Edward asked his brother in an episode reminiscent of an earlier occurrence.

"Dear Dad, we have obtained the Malfoy Manor and would like you to come over soon," Alphonse mused.

"How about Dear Hohenheim instead?"

Alphonse nodded his head resolutely. Ed scrawled their missive on a blank sheet of parchment, muttering about the stupidity of quills as he struggled not to break his droopy white plume of a feather. Signing his name, he held the quill out to Al to sign his own. Al rolled up the note, tied it to Magnus's leg, and carried the bird much more carefully than Ed to the window.

"Please take this to Van Hohenheim," Alphonse stroked the owl's head, and it hooted it's affirmative, hopping off the window sill and soaring out of sight.

"You didn't have to say please," Ed grumbled.

 **P.O.V. SWITCH**

Ollivander was in his workshop at his cottage on the countryside.

He was working on a wand with Oak wood and a phoenix feather core. The summer had just started and he was expecting business to pick up in a few weeks or so.

He had had a busy afternoon. His daughter had stopped by with cake so he talked to her and his granddaughter.

Apparently she had decided to enroll his granddaughter in Beauxbatons to avoid the whole Hogwarts drama.

He didn't know what to think about this. In the end, all he said was that as long as she got her wand from him, he would support them.

It was all very heartwarming and they had hugged it out before they apparated back to France.

He decided to get back to the wand he'd been working on when all of a sudden the, kiln in the corner lit green and two people stepped out.

The sudden burst of light stuck to the insides of Ollivanders eyes, and he blinked rapidly as he tried to dim the intense holes in his vision enough to distinguish the features of the obscured men.

"Hey pops! Are you okay?"

Ollivander grabbed the wand off of his table and yelled, "Stay back, or else!"

One of them moved towards him and he yelled again, this time "Rictusempra!" The person fell over and started giggling wildly.

The other one rushed over to aid his accomplice (and by this point Ollivander's vision was mostly clear) and shook him before turning to the wandmaker and clapping his hands together, siding his left arm down his right to forming a blade.

"Make it stop!" He demanded, pushing the blade slightly into Ollivanders chest. "Or I will kill you."

The wandmaker pointed the wand at the trespasser, and stuttered out a "finite incantatem," the man on the floor gasping for breath as the assailant with the bladed arm took a step back and lowered his weapon. Ollivander cautiously looked the two men over, discovering that the so-called 'men' were more like 'boys'.

The one on the floor couldn't be any more than twelve! The other was clearly still young, perhaps nineteen or twenty? Just about the age to get out of Hogwarts.

"Listen," the assumed elder of the two requested. "My little brother needs a wand."

Ollivander looked the two over one more time.

He thought about the logistics of trying to get the assistance of an Auror, but decided the strange boys might just kill him first.

"Well, let's see what we can do…" he went over to a chest of drawers in the corner of the room and opened it, pulling out several marked boxes. "We're not at my shop, so I don't have all that many on hand, but let's see if we can't find a match." He set them on a nearby table and pulled off the lids, revealing one polished wand neatly packed away in each box.

"Here. Try these first." He pushed them all towards the younger boy before pulling the older aside, careful to avoid the metal blade still peeking out from under his right sleeve.

"Listen. I don't know what that was that you did with your arm, but I do know that it's not natural. Who made it?"

The man looked at him dubiously before clapping his hands. Blue lightning cracked around his arm as the metal moved back under his sleeve, leaving a tattered white glove covering a metal hand. Clapping once more, the white fabric knitted itself back together until the glove was once more whole and covering the metal.

Ollivander's eyes widened and he scrambled to placate the man. "Please, where are my manners, my name is Garrick Ollivander…" after the man made no move to responded Ollivander tried again, "And you would be?"

The man's eyes darkened as he growled out, "that's classified."

Across the room, the boy shouted, "Edward! Help! Something's on fire!" And the newly named 'Edward' and Ollivander rushed over to the child's aid.

The boy had set fire to a large portion of the table and was currently trying to put it out by blowing on it. "Alphonse!" Edward cried, took off his cloak, and threw it over the flame.

This obviously did not have the desired effect as the coat simply caught aflame as well.

Ollivander stepped up to the table, pulled out the wand he'd been working on, and set to work.

"Aguamenti!" The fire was doused, though smoke still wafted from the scorched wood and the charred remains of the cloak. Ollivander hurried into his kitchen, filled a pale with water from a full, out-of-place bathtub (complete with clawed feet!), and, returning to the main room, threw it onto the fire.

The embers completely sizzled out.

Edward stared, flabbergasted.

"Why did the water from a bucket put out the fire when the water from your wand didn't get rid of it all the way?"

Ollivander rolled his eyes.

"Just a way to pad space." He said, accustomed to similar queries.

Alphonse carefully replaced the wand he was still clutching before plucking another out of its' box and giving it a wave. This one merely flew out of his hand, much to his relief.

Olivander plucked it out of the air before it hit the ground, saving himself an hour of repolishing, before plucking a measuring tape from it's rest atop the chest of drawers the wands had been stored in.

"Yes, yes, it's a relief, I know, but it might be prudent to actually get measurements so we know what to look for."

Olivander released the tape, and, shaking itself out, it began to task of measuring Alphonse in the oddest of places.

"What does the width of my earlobes have to do with a wand?" Al asked.

Ollivander shook his head. "Usually, I put on the mystical old man act and don't need to bother with that question. Essentially, all these measurements are variables in several formulae, which eventually outputs the ideal length of the wand. Of course, we still have to worry about dominant hand, and materials to match your current psychological state and personality, but it does start us down the correct path. It is all a very complex and precise science."

Edward's eyes shot open.

"You know science?" Ollivander finally put realized what had been itching at him about these boys the entire time. "You two are muggle born? Or is it muggle raised?" Sweeping the wands still on the table to the side, Olivander grabbed a stack of boxes from behind him. "Try these."

Alphonse popped open the first box and gave the wand a wave.

Five miles away, a shelf fell over.

"Not that one," Ollivander said, plucking it from Alphonse's hand.

Alphonse grabbed another box and extracted the wand inside.

It was very intricately carved, with beautiful helixes circling it's base.

He gave it a wave and a shower of purple Sparks rained from it.

"That's the one, then." Ollivander said. "That'll be thirteen galleons." He held his hand out, palm open.

Ed dropped one hundred galleons in his hand.

"To get a new table." He said before stepping back into the fireplace and leaving.

"I could buy ten new tables with this." Ollivander muttered to himself before uttering a quick "Reparo" over his burnt table and putting the galleons into his chest and returning to the wand he'd been working on.

 **P.O.V. SWITCH**

Dumbledore had drafted the letter with the help of Minerva, who revealed that she unfortunately would not be able to attend, as she had a prior engagement. The list contained a few people of note, including the Minister of Magic, Horace Slughorn, Amelia Bones, Bathalda Bagshot, and Nicholas Flamel, among others. Perhaps the Scamanders would even make an appearance! Of course, not all were celebrities. In fact, he had invited Rubeus Hagrid as his own plus one. He nodded, satisfied that the Elrics wouldn't mind this guest list, as it might be a good idea to get them introduced to Wizarding notables anyway.

Hagrid hadn't been incredibly thrilled to go, but Dumbledore reminded him that the boys had swindled the Malfoys out of all their possessions, and Hagrid caved, his curiosity winning out over his distaste for stuffy formal events.

Dumbledore inspected the list one last time and decided that it didn't need any adjustments. He quickly penned a short letter to the Elrics with a copy of the list included.

 **P.O.V. SWITCH**

Ed was sitting on the drive, watching Alphonse playing with the other owls. In a burst of fire, Phoenix from before appeared, circled over them, and landed in the seat next to Ed before holding out his leg, allowing the alchemist to untie the letter and scan the list.

"Anyone we know?" Alphonse asked, moving closer to his brother.

Ed looked the list over again. "Not that I know of. Flamel is one this world's Alchemists, but other than that, no."

Al peaked over his brother's shoulder, intrigued. "How different is this world's alchemy from ours?"

"I'm not sure, but I think we'll find out. I'm going to respond with 'sounds good' and send it back. Okay?"

Al nodded, and Ed scribbled on the back of the note with a handy muggle pen from his jacket pocket, before sending the Phoenix on its' way.

Another bird appeared, and this time it was Magnus. Ignoring Ed, the owl regally held out his leg for Alphonse to untie the small parchment, which he read aloud.

"Dear Edward and Alphonse,

I am glad to hear the two of you are well, and that you have found a suitable base of operations.

Thank you for offering me a place to stay, but I have been doing pretty well for myself and have procured a nice place as well.

I would love to visit, though, so I will endeavor to be there this coming Thursday, though I may be late.

Best wishes, See you then." Alphonse read, shaking his head at the timing.

"Today is Thursday, so he could be arriving today or anytime between now and the end of time." Edward said.

Alphonse shook his head. "Well no is sitting around waiting for him to show up." Alphonse walked up the drive towards the house followed by Edward and, arriving first, opened the door and together the brothers walked inside.

"Dobby," Ed called, the elf appearing with a pop. Edward leaned against the wall. "Dobby, I wanna know what you did when this house belonged to the Malfoys."

Dobby shifted from foot to foot. "Dobby had many jobs, sir. Dobby would get Mister Malfoy sir his coffee, or Dobby would draft letters, or Dobby would cook food for the Sirs and Madam." He listed.

"So you would be pretty knowledgeable about wizarding affairs?" Edward probed.

"Dobby wouldn't consider himself more knowledgeable than the average wizard," Dobby said humbly.

Edward gave the house elf a grin, "We aren't average wizards, so tell us everything you know!"

Dobby nodded and immediately began the process educating them.

 **P.O.V. SWITCH**

Van Hohenheim had been helping Flourish and Blottes for years. Thirty years the next week in fact. After all those years with barely any contact, he was surprised when a letter arrived for him from his sons.

It basically said 'we're throwing a housewarming party, show up or don't'.

Hohenheim was delighted to be invited to see his sons, and decided he'd get an outfit especially tailored for the occasion, a long grey-brown robe with a fleece lining.

Hohenheim was very excited.

 **howdy folks.**

 **i know its been a while and fir that i apologize...**

 **so yea lots of thanks to my beta, goodgirl275, who is my hero.**

 **anyway yeah i hopr you enjoyed this chap and ill get the next one up as soon as possible.**

 **7/8**


	13. Getting Ready

Alastor Moody's dramatic entrance to Dumbledore's office silenced everyone and the large chest he had with him attracted a few eyes as well.

Moody surveyed the room with his blue eye, pausing for a moment on Elric.

Dumbledore stared at the intruder.

"Alastor, we are in the middle of a meeting. Is it urgent, or may we finish up?"

"It's important, but it can wait until you're done," Moody groused, his prosthetic eye spinning, well, madly.

Dumbledore smiled. "We seem to be just about done. We'll be but a moment."

"Now hold on a minute Albus! We are nowhere near done there is no reason to separate this boy from the rest of his house because of something his brother did."

Albus nodded his head absently. "Yes I suppose you are right."

Snape looked relieved. "Of course the headmaster will agree with me, Minerva."

Albus let loose a small chuckle. "On the contrary Severus, I agree with Minerva."

Snape's eyebrow developed a tic. "Why? Draco was greatly upset by what the Elric's did to his family."

Alphonse glared. "Not the Elrics, an Elric. My brother Edward did that. I did nothing to them."

Albus sought immediately to ease the tension.

"Regardless of who did what, I think that the only solution to such a problem is to expose them to each other. Thus, I have decided that the boy will maintain his original schedule, But since you seem so adamant I will keep him in separate rooms to sleep and live in. Now unless that's not all, I must speak with Alastor."

McGonagall stood and Snape followed after followed by Elric.

They filed down the stairs, at which point they parted: Snape heading down towards the dungeons while McGonagall left towards the staircases, Alphonse trailing behind her.

"Err, Professor? Can you help me find my room? I need to get my things."

McGonagall eyed the Slytherin suspiciously.

"Shouldn't you be asking Professor Snape, young man?"

Alphonse stepped back a little and looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, it's just that he seems…" Alphonse struggled to find the right word. "Busy?" And landed squarely on the wrong one.

"And what? You believe that I'm not busy? Well, Elric, I think that you should be able to find your rooms quite easily if you merely looked for them. Good day!" The professor spun on her heel and briskly strode away.

Alphonse stood frozen, flabbergasted. At least, until someone shoved him from behind. Al landed hard on his hands and knees, and he could feel that at least one was bleeding.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Elric, eh? Shouldn't you be writing to your dear older brother?"

Al looked up to see Draco Malfoy bereft of his usually ever present posse of young socialites.

"Hello, Draco. It's been a while," Al said coldly.

Draco sneered before pulling his wand. "Damn ri-!"

"Expelliarmus," Alphonse caught his house-mate off guard and snatched the wand out of the air, pocketing the instrument.

"Did you want to talk about something, Draco?" Al asked.

Draco's eyes widened in surprise at the shift that had just taken place between joining and the boy who had assisted in his family's bankruptcy, and stepped back in concern.

"Well, if it's nothing, then," Al prowled to a convenient window and dropped the wand out of it. "You should be able to get down there and to class on time if you skip breakfast."

Draco glared before turning on his heel and running towards the stairs. When he was completely out of sight, Al Wingardium Leviosa'd the wand back and slid it into his pocket.

Al followed after the long gone Malfoy at a leisurely pace. He was headed to the third floor, after all, and, unsure of how to get to his quarters, following someone who knew what they were doing to the stairs was his best bet. He needed his things, after all.

 **POV SWITCH**

Moody closed the door behind the professors and Elric as Dumbledore rose and stepped out from behind his desk

"What is it, Alastor?"

Moody smiled before knocking on the chest.

"I've got something in here that might make it easier to stop that Elric kid."

Dumbledore disapprovingly eyed the ex-auror.

"Why would you bring this here and not to the Aurors?"

Moody's face fell slightly.

"It's not necessarily... legal, but it's for the greater good, if you know what I mean."

Dumbledore let out a long suffering sigh. "What's in the trunk, Alastor."

Moody set the trunk down and slowly lifted the heavy lid. Dumbledore leaned over to look down on its' contents.

At the bottom was what looked to be a slightly disheveled blond man. Dumbledore thought he recognized him.

"Who is this man, Alastor?" Dumbledore asked.

Alastor pulled his wand. "Rennervate!" He cast the spell towards the sleeping man.

The man shot up as the spell hit him.

"Where am I!" He yelped.

Dumbledore called down to him, "Good morning! What is your name?"

The man looked up at them. "Good morning to you as well! I am Van Hohenheim!"

Dumbledore nodded.

"We've met! You are the Elric boy's father is that right?"

Hohenheim yelled back, "Yes, those two are my sons!"

Albus made quick eye contact with Moody.

"Why are you in this trunk?"

Hohenheim rubbed his hands together.

"I don't know. Why am I in this trunk?"

Dumbledore gave Moody a meaningful look.

"Would you say you are associated with the terrorist Edward Elric?"

Even from all the way up there, Dumbledore felt the sarcasm drifting off of Hohenheim.

"He's my fucking son."

Dumbledore nodded and cupped his hands and called down.

"Do you need help up?"

Hohenheim clapped his hands' hands together and leaned against the wall.

The floor of the chest shot up and the not so captive was standing right before them.

"No, that's quite alright." With a quick clap of his hands, Hohenheim patted Moody on the shoulder. In a quick as lightning motion, the ground opened up and swallowed Madeye whole, stopping just below the neck.

Albus looked curiously at Hohenheim.

"What did you do to him?"

Hohenheim leveled his gaze at the man floundering on the ground.

"I simply transmuted the ground around him. Hello Albus. It's been a while." Hohenheim smiled and held out his hand.

 **POV SWITCH**

Ron and Harry had just arrived at the dining hall to find the twins wondering aloud about the whereabouts of Alphonse Elric.

"The only possible explanation I can think of is that he must have left," Fred mused.

George shook his head. "No way! You're forgetting that McGonagall checks the Gryffindor dorms on the first night before classes. She might have found him on one of the chairs and decided he was snooping."

"Are you saying that our dear sweet Professor Minnie doesn't have the sense to realize that a sleeping child isn't a spy?" Fred asked incredulously.

"Maybe he just wandered off?" Harry offered.

George nodded. Fred looked scandalized. "He's too smart for that."

Ron pointed across the great hall towards the Slytherin table.

"It looks like he's fine." He told the twins.

Across the hall sat Alphonse Elric cutting into a sausage with his fork and speaking with another Slytherin boy.

They watched as Al's eyes widened, his head turning a fraction to better see the grand arched door at the front of the hall. The group of Gryffindor followed his gaze and saw at the end of it was Professor Dumbledore strolling into the room.

He was leading behind him a blond man with glasses.

Alphonse immediately ducked beneath a table.

Harry looked puzzled. "Wonder what that's about."

 **POV SWITCH**

Edward was plotting. This was not a word he preferred to use but in this case, it applied better than planning or other synonyms. He was sat at a large drafting table with a map in front of him.

"Dobby," he said into the empty room.

The house elf popped into existence in front of Edward with a loud *snap*.

"Yes Mas- Edward?" the house elf asked, cringing at the informal usage of his masters' name.

Edward smiled at the elf.

"Hello, Dobby. Would you mind bringing this to Thomas at the Leaky Cauldron?" Edward held out a bundle of black cloth.

Dobby nodded.

"Excuse Dobby's rudeness M- Edward, but why don't you send one of the owls?"

"I believe the Aurors are trying to intercept the mail now that they can't simply enter the manor."

Dobby nodded, grabbed the black bundle and snapped once more, leaving the room.

Edward dipped a quill in ink and set about writing several different letters, the contents of which were something along the lines of order forms. He was purchasing, through the mail, a few artifacts from Knockturn Alley.

Edward stood and walked toward the fireplace. After getting a suitable blaze going, he tossed in some silver powder, turning the flames green.

"Borgin and Burkes," Ed muttered, tossing the letters through and dousing the flame with a convenient pitcher of water.

Edward noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and stepped over to look out the window. Outside, a long white snake slithering across the courtyard. As it got closer, he saw it had a bit of an effervescent glow and recognized it for what it was immediately. Edward leapt through the window to meet it halfway.

"Hello, there patronus! Who are you here for?" he greeted the charm.

It opened its mouth and the voice of the man Edward had assaulted on the Hogwarts grounds not too long before.

"Hello, Mister Elric. My name is Quirinius Quirrel. I am sending you a message on behalf of the Dark Lord Voldemort. He sincerely wishes to meet with you. Please respond soon so we can make arrangements."

Edward nodded his head before pulling his wand.

Edward focused his mind on the first moment he had seen Alphonse in his human body after being in the amrou. "Expecto Patronum!" he called.

A large beast of a dog appeared in front of him.

"Quirrel. I'd love to meet with your Dark Lord. I'll leave it up to him where we shall be meeting. Best wishes, Edward Elric."

Edward then sent the large dog to Quirrel in a direction he hoped Hogwarts was sin

 **POV SWITCH**

Severus Snape was prepared to treat Alphonse Elric exactly like one would treat the boy whose brother swindled his godson out if his inheritance.

That is, until Van Hohenheim arrived and sat next to him at the staff table.

Albus rolled himself to the Podium in front of the table and raised his arms, the chatter rippling through the Great Hall waning and abating.

"Students, I would like you all to welcome a new face to the staff. I know it's later in the year than usual, but he has just arrived. This is Professor Van Hohenheim. Think of him as a tutor. He'll be in the library on Wednesdays, Mondays, and Sundays. Some of you might recognise him from Flourish and Blotts."

Hohenheim stood and bowed before reclaiming his chair.

 **POV SWITCH**

Quirrel was preparing for his first class of the day when a large white dog appeared in the door.

The voice of Voldemort decided to chime in. "That dog is an Ovcharka."

The dog padded toward him and gave him a response before dissipating into a cloud of white smoke.

"Excellent Quirrel. We have him right where we want him."

Quirrel nodded, paying no heed to his surroundings. "Yes, well, it still might be a tad bit difficult to get him to listen to our side of things."

A searing pain filled his skull. "Our?"

Quirrel shriveled. "R-right th-that is t-t-t-to say yours, s-sir."

 **POV SWITCH**

Moody was still stuck In the floor.

 **POV SWITCH**

Alphonse was feeling a bit better after the meeting, what with Draco not being there to harass him. He walked into the Great Hall with a small smirk that, had anyone here met Edward, would have reminded them of the elder Elric brother.

As he made his way towards the end of the Slytherin table, a few students hissed at him. Specifically, Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe. Of course, pretty much all of the other Slytherins still gave him nasty looks.

It was at that moment that Alphonse knew: he was not going to be popular in his school career.

Al sat down and started pulling his plate high with eggs and sausage. Another first year Slytherin stood from further down the table and dropped his plate right across from him. He looked tired.

"Hello there. I'm Alphonse," Al told the boy, extending a hand.

The boy let out a scoff, that turned into a chuckle, and from there, into a full chested laugh.

"I don't understand what's so funny about my name." Al pouted, letting his hand fall back to the table.

The boy looked incredulous.

"You really don't? You're the brother of Edward Elric, but you still introduced yourself. Everyone in magical Europe knows who you are." He wiped a tear from his eye. "Priceless."

Al pout turned into a full-on frown. "Yes, well, was there something you wanted? 'Cause I've had a real morning and I just wanted to eat something."

The boy shook his head. "No, yes! There was something I wanted. I'm Theodore Nott." The boy held out his hand and Al shook it three times before letting go.

"Nice to meet you Theodore."

The boy smiled. "You too, Elric."

Al shook his head. "Alphonse. Call me Alphonse. Now, was there something you wanted?"

The boy took a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Well, it was just that-"

It was at that moment that Alphonse caught sight of a blond man with his hair in a ponytail. His eyes widened and his head snapped towards him as if yanked, before immediately diving underneath the table.

Theodore looked confused, before twisting in his seat to look at what Al had seen. His eyes widened and he ducked under the table too.

"Is that him?" He hissed at Alphonse who looked confused back back at him. "Is that Edward Elric?" Nott repeated.

Al shook his head. "Edward is only a few years older than me. That man looks at least fifty." Al pointed out.

Nott nodded.

"Right, well, how do you know him then? Is he a cousin? An uncle? A… grandfather?"

Al looked close to laughter. "No. He's my dad."

Nott looked like his head would explode, his mouth agape and his cheeks flushed.

"Why is the father of the second most feared man in magical Brittain at Hogwarts having breakfast with Dumbledore?" Nott questioned, bewildered.

Al's eyes glinted with curiosity. "I don't know. Last I heard he was helping Ed with something."

"Right… Edward… the Terrorist…"

All looked at Nott angrily. "Look, can we drop that."

Nott nodded and they both got it from under the table.

Snape appeared at that moment and handed them both class schedules.

Nott snatched Alphonse's class schedule from his hand before he'd had a chance to look at it.

Al peaked over Theodore's shoulder and saw that he and Nott had identical schedules.

Alphonse let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly the bell rang and students started making their ways to their classes.

Al stood and started to make his way toward his first class of the day.

 **ed is the only blood in a military full of crips.**

 **im done being a lil bitch about the reviews so yeah just do it if you want i don really care anymore. thanks for reading this :-D**

9/14


	14. secondary prep

It was the first Saturday after his twenty-fifth birthday, a cool but sunny winter morning when Nickolas Flamel had pulled Dumbledore aside at a party of sorts.

"Albus, come help me with something upstairs for a moment, would you?" The dark haired man had requested.

Albus had stood and followed after his mentor up the stairs into the lab, where the older man directed his gaze towards a display case at the far end of the laboratory. In the case was a slip of paper and a sizable red stone.

"That Philosopher's Stone can be the most powerful, destructive force on the face of the earth, or it could be the most wonderful creative force, or, it could even become a small stone left on the ground and forgotten. It's indestructible, undetectable to magic, and could outlive god."

Albus was confused by this monologue.

"Uhhh, what is this about?"

Nickolas Flamel suddenly looked into Albus's eyes.

"Someday you will find yourself facing two men who appear to be young, with blond hair and gold eyes. I guess you could say they were byproducts of my youth. They have been hunting me for many years. They will seem unassuming and you will probably want to ignore my warning but these boys killed people important to me."

Albus had been struck by this. "What do you need from me?"

Nickolas pressed his hand to Albus's. "I'm sure you will figure out what needs to be done, Albus." And the closeness made Albus blush.

"Of course, Sir."

Albus had nodded then, but now he was feeling less certain over the task his old friend had implied.

He remembered the first time he'd met the boys and recognized them from Nicholas's story.

He had been caught off guard both by Edward's intensity and the brothers' apparent youth. Needless to say, it had been easier to envision the killing of two evil men when he was young, and before he had met them.

That was why he had decided to set up this party. Firstly, to verify the boys' identities with Flamel, and secondly to (on the off chance they weren't the 'men' in Flamel's story) introduce them to wizarding society now that they were wealthy parts of it.

Albus decided to pack a few spell books ranging from beginners to expert in the hopes that it would better acquaint the boys with magic.

Suddenly, the fire in the corner if the room blazed a bright green and out stepped the man he had just been considering.

He looked the same as always, long black hair, a sharp chin and skinny body, and finally those intense purple eyes.

"Good evening Nickolas." Dumbledore greeted calmly hoping the man wouldn't have heard of the party before he had had a chance to tell him.

Flamel smiled but Albus saw the anger in his eyes.

"Good evening Albus. I have heard news of your new Projects. Why didn't you tell me you found them?" The alchemist demanded.

Albus swallowed some of his fear. "Why didn't you tell me these men were no more than boys? I can't in good conscience hurt these boys."

Nickolas laughed. "I'm sorry, did I not tell you what these 'boys' did to me? To my family? One of their allies burnt my sister alive. They forced my brother to eat our mother. These men do not know restraint. They do not know mercy."

Albus was a little more than taken aback by this.

"Nickolas I- I'm sorry. I didn't know that. . ."

Flamel looked insane. "Worry not Albus, this party of yours could yet be a benefit. Who else did you invite?"

Albus recalled the list for Flamel.

"Uninvite Bones. The rest are disposable. What sorts of artifacts are you planning to bring?"

Albus didn't understand. "As gifts?"

Nickolas closed his eyes. "No Albus. To capture him."

Albus nodded. "None. I decided to gift them a foe glass as they have made an enemy of a great death eater."

Flamel shook his head before pulling from the table a glass sphere and fiddling with it absently.

"I need to head to Gringotts. Albus, I'm trusting you to find a way to restrain those men."

 **POV SWITCH**

Edward and Alphonse were looking through the rooms of the manor for anything that could be useful to them.

Alphonse was digging through the chests in an attic room when an owl flew in through the open window. It landed on a small writing desk next to the chests Alphonse had searched through and pecked him hard on the scalp.

"Agh!" Al yelled grabbing his head and reaching out to grab the bird but it simply dropped the letter on the ground and flew back out the window.

Ed looked up from across the room.

"What the hell, Al. What was that?" He asked while walking over.

Alphonse opened the letter and out dropped a single golden key with a number etched into it.

Al turned the key over and saw that someone had placed a stylized M on the other side of it.

Ed was hunched over Alphonse's left shoulder, "Is there a letter?"

Alphonse looked inside the envelope and saw nothing. The envelope itself was unmarked.

"Weird," Al remarked, stowing the key into his pocket and then turning back to the set of drawers he'd gotten into.

A small spinning top which had been picked out of the drawers earlier started spinning and letting out a shrill noise which nearly deafened both the occupants of the room, the top then spun over to the wall with the window right above it and stopped moving.

Ed followed the top to the window and saw Dumbledore walking down the drive towards the gate.

The old man looked up at the window and waved.

"Ugh, what the hell is that old man doing here?" Ed asked the world at large.

"What is it?" Al asked, still perched in front of the drawers.

"Dumbledore is here," Ed answered.

 **POV SWITCH**

Dumbledore was sitting at his desk wondering about these revelations and he decided that the best way to clear his head would be to speak with someone about it.

He stood from his desk and walked towards the fireplace. After quick consideration, he pulled the floo powder from a bowl on the mantle and tossed it into the flames.

"The Leaky Cauldron!" He announced, and then stepped into the flames

And out into the shabby old tavern.

Tom the Innkeeper was at the bar flicking through the Daily Prophet.

Albus walked briskly over to Tom, who lowered his newspaper.

"Good evening Albus," he greeted, smiling lightly.

Albus smiled back and shook his head, "It's ten in the morning, Thomas."

Tom looked slightly affronted. "Well, sorry, but I hardly ever get outside these days. S'not easy running the gateway to magical London. Never get breaks 'round here."

Albus chuckled.

"That's a shame, Tom. I was hoping I might have a quick chat with you. In private?"

Tom nodded. "Right, just a moment- LETTY! MAN THE BAR, I'LL BE BACK IN A FEW MINUTES- let's head through here, yeah Albus?"

Albus nodded and followed Tom behind the bar towards a back room. There was a table, a sink, an oven, four chairs, and a pair of footstools.

Tom pulled a stool out from under the table for Dumbledore and then a chair for himself.

Dumbledore briefly pondered the mechanics of sitting on a stool in his robes.

"No need, Tom, I've brought my own," Albus said, pushing in the stool and summoning his own rather large recliner.

He lounged back while Tom stared at him.

"Well? What is it you wanted? I've left Letty in charge but it is sort of my job so…"

Albus nodded. "Of course, Tom. I just wanted to ask about those two young men from a while back. The two blond ones?"

Tom looked incredulous. "Albus, I wonder if you know how busy my job is? I've met just about every wizard in London and there are quite a few blonds among them."

Now it was Dumbledores turn to feel annoyed. "Two blond young men, yellow eyes, the older one had long hair."

Tom's eyes filled with recognition.

"Right, those ones, the ones that knocked Malfoy off of his-" he stopped suddenly. "Erm, that is to say, yes! I remember those boys, what about them?"

Albus indulged in a small chuckle, "It appears you've heard of that then." Tom gave the old headmaster a wry smile. "Well, I suppose you would have heard of that, right, Tom? Who'd you hear from? Fletcher? You know he's truly a terrible-"

Thump*

A big fat newspaper flopped down on the small sitting room table and on the cover in big fat letters:

 **MALFOYS DEFRAUDED? DID A FALSE FIFTH COUSIN STEAL THE MALFOY FORTUNE? A BRIEF EDITORIAL BY RITA SKEETER.**

Albus lifted the paper and read aloud, "'A foreigner charading as an estranged relative to the prestigious and ancient Malfoy family and proceeded to swindle them out of their earthly possessions.' I do hope neither the Malfoys nor the Elrics ever read this."

Tom scoffed. "Right, and I agree, but also consider the fact that Rita Skeeter has written a few bad things about you and at least one about me which is frankly absurd, I'm like the Father Christmas of the Wizarding World."

"Right, well, back to the Elric brothers, have you heard any news aside from that Skeeter article?"

Tom threw his hands up in an exaggerated shrug, "This is all I know. Sorry, Albus."

Albus shrugged. "It's alright Tom. I must be going now, so I will be seeing you in a while, I suppose." Albus stood, vanished his chair, and walked toward the door.

Tom followed after him. "well I suppose I'll be seeing you then."

Albus apparated himself out of the Leaky Cauldron and Tom walked back into the shop. Letty was sitting in her spot looking entirely stressed.

"Tom, where have you been?! They don't trust me behind this counter. Switch spots with me so I can go back to the kitchten?" Please!"

Tom smiled at the girl before shooing her back into the kitchen and remanning his post.

 **hey there kiddos, its been a hot minit lol.**

 **not a lots been happenin cept that school is a bit much so my update schedule will definitely stay as consistent as it has been since the beginning lol.**

 **this one's a little short. i intended it to be longer but i couldn't really figure out how to do that ...**

 **yeah so anyway, hope you enjoyed!**

 **11/15/18**

 **edit: 11/16/18**

 **y'all should check out my tumblr which is mental-incapacity-fanfiction**

 **also som o yall should read disorganized Crime n some of my other fics**


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